Autographs of Barnes Wallis
Sir Barnes Neville Wallis CBE FRS RDI FRAeS (26 September 1887 – 30 October 1979) was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise (the "Dambusters" raid) to attack the dams of the Ruhr Valley during World War II.
The raid was the subject of the 1955 film The Dam Busters, in which Wallis was played by Michael Redgrave. Among his other inventions were his version of the geodetic airframe and the earthquake bomb, including designs such as the Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs.
Barnes Wallis was born in Ripley, Derbyshire, to general practitioner Charles George Wallis (1859–1945) and his wife Edith Eyre (1859–1911), daughter of Rev. John Ashby. The Wallis family subsequently moved to New Cross, south London, living in "straitened, genteel circumstances" after Charles Wallis was crippled by polio in 1893. He was educated at Christ's Hospital in Horsham and Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Boys' Grammar School in southeast London, leaving school at seventeen to start work in January 1905 at Thames Engineering Works at Blackheath, southeast London. He subsequently changed his apprenticeship to J. Samuel White's, the shipbuilders based at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. He originally trained as a marine engineer and in 1922 he took a degree in engineering via the University of London External Programme.
More about Barnes Wallis Wikipedia
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Traded items with a signature of Barnes Wallis
The most expensive item with a signature of Barnes Wallis (\t\t\tBarnes Wallis: a biography (Signed), Morpurgo, Jack E., Longman, \t\t) was sold in December 2025 for £852.49 while the cheapest item (RARE - BARNES WALLIS HISTORIC AVIATORS COVER SIGNED BY BARON VENTRY) found a new owner for £0.99 in September 2018. The month with the most items sold (9) was February 2016 with an average selling price of £59.95 for an autographed item of Barnes Wallis. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in August 2021 with £424.50 and the month that saw the lowest prices with £4.99 was April 2013. In average, an autographed item from Barnes Wallis is worth £82.00.
Most recently, these items with a signature of Barnes Wallis were sold on eBay - click here for more items.
| Picture | Item Title | Price | Store |
 | 1976 RAFM HA6 Sir Barnes Wallis signed Barnes Wallis No 1111 of 1250 | £238.10 |  |
 | 1976 ROYAL AIR FORCE COMMERATIVE COVER - BARNES WALLIS - SIGNED LTD EDITION | £170.56 | |
| \t\t\tBarnes Wallis: a biography (Signed), Morpurgo, Jack E., Longman, \t\t | £852.49 | |
| Barnes Wallis Autograph - British Military Inventor - Bouncing Bomb - Dambusters | £77.00 | |
| Barnes WALLIS Dambusters RAF Signed Autographed First Day Cover FDC + COA | £99.49 | |
| Barnes Wallis: a Biograph by Je Morpurgo Signed by Barns Wallis (26) | £479.32 | |
 | Dambusters - 2 x 6" x 4" Unique, signed Johnson & Munro - Barnes Wallis statue | £21.01 | |
 | Group of 4 FDC Signed By Various WW2 Pilots Including Barnes Wallis | £102.70 | |
| LETTERS FROM A BOMBER PILOT RAF 1941-43. WW2 Multi-Signed Barnes Wallis A Harris | £142.54 | |
| RAF museum first series FDC RAF Hartland Point signed Sir Barnes Wallis 617 Sqn | £102.94 | |
| Sir Barnes Wallis Cover SIGNED By Barnes Wallis. | £118.52 | |
| V/RARE 1977 BARNES WALLIS & EVE GIBSON SIGNED RAF 617 SQUADRON FLOWN COVER | £200.00 | |
| WW2 Dambuster Bomb Sir Barnes Wallis signed on his own Historic Aviators cover, | £144.98 | |
| WW2 Dambuster Bomb Sir Barnes Wallis signed RARE Lancaster RAF cover SC36 | £203.84 | |
| WWII RAF Cover Signed by Dambusters Bouncing Bomb Inventor BARNES WALLIS | £128.41 | |
Latest News about Barnes Wallis
Barnes Wallis students set for their American dream (09/04/2015): Tattershall-based Barnes Wallis Academy have launched a Space Camp Competition in order to select two Year 9 students to go on the trip of a lifetime - to Space Camp USA in Kentucky, this summer.Commonwealth champion inspires Barnes Wallis pupils (05/04/2015): Seven–time Commonwealth medalist Anthony Clark has been helping to inspire youngsters at of Barnes Wallis Academy as park of Sky Sports, Living for Sport project.Unexploded shells dug up by black Labrador named Barnes Wallis (17/03/2015): The 40lb shells, which are believed to date from the 1860s, were dug up by a black Labrador named after Sir Barnes Wallis - the inventor of the bouncing bomb in Sandwich Bay, Kent. 
Olympic star Ben inspires Barnes Wallis students (17/02/2015): Six talented sports students from Barnes Wallis Academy experienced an inspirational day at Nottingham University led by Ben Pipes, Team GB’s 2012 Olympic Men’s Volleyball Captain.
